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Cadius Eldanesh
Common Statistics Mutt. - Isiolia Nightstar Race: Elven (Mixed, Moon Elf dominant, or as he'd say 'A Who-Tel-What?') Age: 93 Height: 5'9 Weight: 135 pounds Hair: Dark brown, worn long, tied back with a black silk ribbon. Skin Tone: Slightly paler than the average Skin Texture: About middling, neither particularly soft nor the rough skin of a warrior or farmer, although the tips of his fingers are heavily calloused. Eye Color: Light brown, sort of a chestnut hue. Accent: Mid-Sword Coast - Baldurian Recognizable Features: Spoken Languages: Common, Thieves' Cant Left or Right Handed: Right-handed Deity: Tymora Class: Rogue level 9 Alignment: Chaotic Good Relatives I wish I could say, Anna. - Alara Eldanesh Biological Father - ? Take the child...please. I have to leave. Now. - Alara Eldanesh Biological Mother - 'Alara Eldanesh - ? ''We may not be blood, but we're still family. - James Hardbright 'Adoptive Father '- James Hardbright, born 1258, died 1334. ''Cadius, remember you're taking your sisters to the Fair! ''- Anna Hardbright '''Adoptive Mother - Anna Morris-Hardbright, Born 1255, died 1326 Are you out of your mind, Cadius!? - Sarah Hardbright Adoptive Sister - Sarah Hardbright - Born 1286, Died 1366 Put me down, you pointy-eared palooka! Mooom! - Mary Hardbright Adoptive Sister '''- Mary Hardbright born 1288, died 1308 -Matthew Hardbright '''Adoptive Brother - Matthew Hardbright, born 1289, died 1366 Can I hold your ears while I ride you? ''- Elizabeth Hardbright '''Adoptive Sister '- Elizabeth Hardbright, born 1290, died 1369. Various nieces, nephews, grandnieces, and grandnephews, and so on. Statistics Strength: 12 - Cadius is no warrior, but at the same time, he's no weakling, either. Long years of climbing, running, leaping from rooftops, has strengthened him respectably. Dexterity: 21 - Cadius is incredibly agile, moving with a practiced ease. Constitution: 10 - Exposure to the rougher side of life in a Human city has strengthened his immune system slightly. Intelligence: 14 - A good education and a genuine love of learning makes Cadius much smarter than he appears. Wisdom: 8 - Cadius has absolutely wretched judgment, and often rushes into situations without properly thinking them through. Charisma: 8 - Cadius is not very personable most of the time. Even when he likes you, he enjoy off-color jokes and he has a phenomenally foul mouth, which tends to get him into trouble. Skills Open Lock: What thief would go without it? Hide: See above. Move Silently: Again. Bluff: Cadius can lie...just not well. Or can he? Tumble: Cadius has a lot of experience moving in tight places. Jump: He's also adept at this, long years of moving from rooftop to rooftop. Climb: Again. Disable Trap: It's a skill that rarely comes in handy, but when it does, it keeps an arrow out of his bum. Search: He's found more secret doors than you've had hot dinners, or so he'd like to claim. Use Magical Device: By means unknown to him, Cadius has a way to, in essence, trick the weave. While he's not certain of the mechanics behind it himself, his best guess is that he has some slight degree of Sorcerous potential. Pickpocket: Yes, he does in fact have your wallet. General Character Information Appearance Rather small and thinly build, he has the look of an acrobat who's been on the job for a long time. He steps lightly and moves as quickly as he can, rarely bothering to look at what's behind, to the sides, or right under his nose. He seems to always have a half-smirk on his face, and a surprisingly open and honest looking face for a thief. He tends to dress in long, dark jackets, usually with bright clothing underneath. He keeps his long dark hair tied back in a loose ponytail most often. He has one interesting mark, a pair of parralel scars on his right hand, artifact of him making the damning cry of 'Hey, watch this!' after several pints of Elminster's Choice, and a collection of other more minor marks that are collected as part of any normal life. Personality Cadius tends to be rather withdrawn and distant from people until he's gotten to know them a bit, then he becomes significantly friendlier and open with them, unless he doesn't like them, in which case they can expect comments on their manners, hygiene, and dress just for starters. He always seems to have a joke - usually a bad one, and when he doesn't have that he can at least make a wiseass comment at someone he doesn't like. His humor seems to be all across the board. Sometimes it's a silly joke or a pun, othertimes cynical and deadpan, and the only time he seems to be able to keep his mouth shut after he gets started is when he's in the middle of breaking into someplace, he can't even keep the commentary down in the middle of combat. When he does get into fouler moods, he becomes quiet and terse, rarely openly lashing out, preferring to go passive aggressive. When intoxicated, he tends to go one of two ways: Goofy and idiotic, doing stupid stuff and making even worse jokes, or depressed and morose less often. Usually, those come on suddenly and fade quickly. As far as the reasoning for his behavior, it can be partially attributed to his age. At 93, he's physically well past the mature state for an Elf, but is still in a state of mental and emotional adolescence. While his childhood in a human city has altered that somewhat, his being forced to grow up very quickly before even reaching his physical maturity has put a strain on his development. But the primary cause isn't any damage. He doesn't use it as a coping mechanism - not all the time anyway, certainly there are times, and in combat his jokes are usually so he keeps his head - but simply because that's the kind of person he is. He loves to laugh and make others laugh, and in some way, the gloomy atmosphere of the Moonsea of late has only amplified this. Relationships [[Isiolia Nightstar|'Isiolia Nightstar']]: Cadius' best friend and most trusted ally, Lia and Cadius have basically been friends since the day they met. They had that relationship thing going for a while, but they don't talk about it and neither should you. Anyway, an outside observer might get the impression that they actually hate each other, what with Cadius constantly snarking and Lia constantly stomping on his foot - something that he wishes she'd stop by the way, he's starting to get marks in his feet - but that's just the byproduct of them being two friends who can drive each other up the wall. He finds her perception of his 'danger magnetism' to be a bit insulting - that hag thing only happened once, and it would've worked perfectly if she'd held still for a second longer. Anyway, he's over his feelings for her now, perfectly happy with the way things are. Well, in this situation, anyway. Tulith Kellin: Oh boy...well, Tulith and Cadius were friends, or at least friendly, for a while. Then all of the sudden that went to merry Hell and Tulith went off the deep end. Tried to kill Cadius, then vanished into the night. He did go back to normal for like, five minutes, then he went crazy again and started stalking Lia and generally being a creeper. Anyway, these days they hate each other, as Tulith has joined the ranks of the Black-Clad Assholes, a group that is unpleasantly NOT very exclusive. [[Michael von Wolfhousen|'Michael']]: Okay, Cadius is going to admit he's not being entirely reasonable here and say he can't freakin' stand Michael. It's not a feeling strong enough to warrant the name 'Hatred' it's more like 'mild antipathy'. It's not that he thinks Michael is a bad person, or that he finds him to be a creeper. Something about him just rubs him the wrong way. He knows Lia likes Michael though, so he tries to keep his comments to himself. [[ Alabyran Haladar|'Alabyran Haladar']]: Cadius likes Alabyran, and considers him a friend. Good thing, too, because he sees Alab about as much as anyone. He just wish the guy would make jokes more often, it's tiresome being the only one around with a decent sense of humor, not that Cadius' jokes are usually all that great. Grigory: His opinion of Grig is complicated. It's not that he hates the guy, but one, he was rude to Lia, and that's a good way to get under Cadius' skin unless you're joking with her, and two, Cadius somehow got the impression that Grigory was involved in some rather shady dealings, thank the Terrible Duo, Anyria and Arisha, for their subtlety there. He smells Guild crap, and a big part of the reason why he's around the Moonsea instead of in Waterdeep or Neverwinter or somewhere else is because he doesn't want to have to worry about licensing issues. All in all, Cadius doesn't think that Grigory is actually Evil - just an idiot. [[ Amir Ra'id Sabir|'Amir Ra'id Sabir']]: Cadius like Ahmir. It's nice for him to meet someone else around here who isn't all doom and gloom and no jokes all the time. Cadius considers him a friend, but they're not especially close ones giving their infrequency of meetings. Ahmir's new relationship with Rosa has Cadius a bit puzzled, though. 'You mean they weren't before?' Then he gets his foot stomped on by Lia, but that's not a change. [[Rosalinde O'Madain|'Rosalinde O'Madain']]: Cadius sees Rosa with the same light he sees Ahmir in - someone who brings some much-needed light to the region, although with less of Ahmir's humor and more of just being a nice person. Which is fine, too. [[Ilisme Renor'anon|'Ilisme Renor'anon']]: Cadius considers Isilme a friend, but they aren't especially close. Markus: Cadius considers Markus a friend, although there's something a little odd about him that Cadius can't quite place. Then again, that might be a sideeffect of his purchasing of the 'Ten Pina Colada for One Gold' sale. It's not as though he has a stomach of steel. ' Shalarnes Marthadal': Cadius is going to come right out and not say it, so I'll do it for him. He doesn't really like Shalarnes. It's not that he dislikes her, he just has this underlying feeling of being patronized whenever he talks to her, probably mostly for her comment of 'Poor dear' to Cadius commenting on being raised in Human society. While she clarified fast, Cadius still has an underlying suspicion that she meant exactly what he thought she did. ' '[[Valin Llanowar|'Valin Llanowar']]: Cadius considers Valin a friend in a way, but it's a bit odd for him. Certain people have commented on a similarity between Valin and Cadius, one that Cadius has picked up on as well, and it makes him somewhat uncomfortable. He sees Valin as something of a funhouse mirror reflection of himself, what he might have become if circumstances and personal choices had been different. It's somewhat discomforting to him. [[Aly'Faerae Auvryath|'Aly'faerae Auvryath']]: Cadius likes Aly, and considers her a friend, but they aren't really acquainted well enough for him to have a significant opinion beyond that. Still, she's probably one of his closer friends around the Moonsea. [[Saeryl Kethvanna|'Saeryl Kethvanna']]: Cadius likes Saeryl, and considers her a friend. He has a bit of a crush on her, probably an artifact of their similar senses of humor, as well as more or less agreeing with her ideology concerning such topics as Thayans and Zhents, although Cadius lacks much of her fervor and bloodlust in these regards. He finds himself fearing that her bloodlust will have a rather negative effect on her soul, her desire to kill them all eventually bringing her to more and more ruthless acts against them. Aislinn Cystineren: Cadius hasn't known Aislinn for very long, but he's quite smitten with her already, at least believing himself to be in love with her, and certainly the context would seem to suggest it pretty well. Akir Be'etnen: '''Cadius would like to like him, but between Akir's reaction to Cadius and Aislinn's budding relationship and the fact that Akir's reaction to anything appears to be 'Kill Kill Death Carnage Murder', it's pretty hard, but Cadius is trying, honest! ...Okay, not so honest. Cadius' feeling towards Akir is dislike on a good day. '''Explosives: Cadius really likes explosives. He always keeps some firebombs on his person, as well as at a powder keg stuffed into his Bag of Holding. No, Cadius is not a pyromaniac. I'm serious. He's not. He just being practical, honest! Hey, it worked on that Werewolf, right? Okay, yes, he loves his powder kegs a bit too much, but it's for a good cause, right? Background Cadius was born to Alara Eldanesh on the night of Hammer 16, 93 years ago, in the home of James and Anna Hardbright, newlyweds who were acquainted with Ms. Eldanesh. He was born both fat and healthy, and his mother, relieved, fell asleep soon afterwards, holding her child in her arms. The following morning, she gave infant Cadius to Anna, asking her to raise the boy, before departing into the streets of Baldur's Gate, where she disappeared. The reason for this were never discerned by the Hardbrights, nor told to Cadius. The only clue that ever fit was Cadius' father, a man who Alara never spoke of during her last meeting with the Hardbrights despite frequent urging, telling the couple to leave the subject alone. Regardless, the Hardbrights raised Cadius as if he were their own child, soon having a number of children of their own, three daughters and a son, to be precise. Cadius was treated well throughout his youth, as much a part of the family as any of them and fiercely protective of his three sisters and brother. The family was well and happy, with Cadius apprenticed to his father, a carpenter. In the last year of his apprenticeship, however, Cadius' middle sister, Mary, disappeared with no apparent traces. While their father approached the Watch and the Flaming Fist, Cadius began retracing his sister's footsteps. The chase proved to be long, but after a month of poking his nose into dark corners and finding nothing or only sharp blades and sharper teeth, he came across a solid lead, a man by the name of Hasin Madaine, a traveling nobleman with an unpleasant reputation, who had been seen with Mary on a number of occasions. Efforts to locate Hasin through legal channels failed, and every road available seemed to be a dead end, Cadius was approached by an agent of the Shadow Thieves of Amn, who offered a piece of information in exchange for 'Favors.' He didn't question his good fortune, and an hour later, he was back on the trail of Madaine. His pursuit to pin Hasin's location down would continue a single more week, until the Shadow Thief emissary gave him one more tidbit of information, in an apologetic tone - 'The Alley outside the Oaken Staves Tavern.' For what reason, Cadius would never learn, but when he came to the alley, he found his sister, strangled to death, her face twisted and warped in death. In his grief, he took her body back to the family home, Cadius' first return since he departed it four months before. In their grieving, a single thing tumbled out of their pocket, something that in better days, Cadius would have found incredibly suspect. It was a matchbook for the Salty Dog, a pleasant dockside inn. Cadius made his way there, and sure enough, Hasin was there, sleeping in his private room. Cadius made his entry, quickly ending any fight by flinging a dagger into Hasin's stomach. The shocked nobleman, already severely injured, quickly gave in. Cadius then began to brutally beat the nobleman, ignoring his pleading for mercy, until finally the Watch made their appearance, whereupon Cadius pitched the beaten and bloodied nobleman out the window, the man meeting his end on the hard cobblestones below. Cadius was then taken into custody, where he languished for several days. His father was allowed a meeting with him, and they spoke the last things they would ever say to each other. Then he left Cadius, who was facing very long time in a cell at his best...when the Shadow Thieves contacted him for the third time, using their expertise at blackmail and bribery to spring him. After escaping, Cadius questioned his contact. "Why did you spring me?" "Because you did us a favor, and you still owe us some." Cadius could never return to his family, never speak with his kin again, without endangering them as well as himself. The official statement was that Cadius had escaped into the countryside, and that the Flaming Fist were pursuing. In reality, he was still inside Baldur's Gate, being trained as an agent for the local Shadow Thieves. His potential proved to be considerable, and he quickly became one of the best local agents. It would be nearly fifty years before anything cropped up to change that. When it did, it would strike hard. Cadius and his partner, Fearghus, a man of considerable skill and Cadius' closest friend, broke into an extremely wealthy nobleman's estate, planning on stealing an extremely valuable pearl. Fearghus, however, betrayed Cadius and left him to die or be arrested, escaping with the Pearl. Cadius, however, narrowly escaped despite his injury, only to find that his screwup had left valuable clues. His group of Thieves were being broken apart by the Flaming Fist. While their leader, Billy 'Parsnip' Macghraw, knew where the blame lay, he put a task on Cadius. 'Find Fearghus and kill him.' Cadius departed the Gate soon after, and felt a sense of freedom. Fearghus was long gone in a direction that couldn't be tracked. If he did as he was ordered, it would be a search that would take decades. But...to the East lay lands the Shadow Thieves had no touch in. They would never know he ignored them. He was free, free to leave behind his memories and find a new life somewhere away from their influence. It's been ten years of long wandering since then. Upon his arrival in the Moonsea region, he was originally planning on moving on pretty quickly. Then he ran into Lia and struck up a friendship, then a relationship with her. At that point, he decided that he'd stay here for a while, at least until he resolved certain issues. Moonsea's been very odd to Cadius, what with all the weird stuff going on. A common comment from him is 'Why doesn't anything around here ever seem to make sense?' Which is usually followed by a rant about flying doom fortresses, pantherghasts, and 'Two Opposites in One's Breath, or whatever the hell they keep nattering about.' Birthday Born 16 Hammer, 1283 DR. Year of the Crawling Clouds Born under the Sign of the Raven and with New Selûne under the sign of the Raven Those born under the sign of the Raven are self sufficient, lively, impetuous and outspoken. They dislike routine and refuse to be pressured by others. Restless and highly energetic, they thrive on change and need constant mental and physical challenge. Those born with Selûne under the sign of the Raven are self sufficient, lively, impetuous and outspoken. They dislike routine and refuse to be pressured by others. Restless and highly energetic, they thrive on change and need constant mental and physical challenge. Timeline: Hammer 16, 1283 - Cadius Eldanesh is born in the home of James and Anna Hardbright, the son of Alara Eldanesh and an unknown Elven man. Ches 7, 1308 - Mary Hardbright disappears. Ches 9, 1308 - Cadius begins his search for Mary. Eleint 15, 1308 - Cadius is contacted by an agent of the Shadow Thieves, who gives him much-needed information. Eleint 22, 1308 - Cadius is lead by the Shadow Thieves to the body of his sister. She is returned to the family home, where a final clue is found, a matchbook leading to the inn where her presumed killer, Hasin Madaine, is residing. Eleint 23, 1308 - In the small hours, Cadius enters the Salty Dog Inn and brutally murders Hasin Madaine. He is then arrested by Flaming Fist guardsmen. Eleint 24, 1308 - Cadius has his last conversation with his foster father. Several hours later, the Shadow Thieves arrange for his release. He is quickly brought into their organization, with the potential for the Flaming Fist to arrest him and his whole family hung over his head. He eventually comes to accept and even enjoy his place in the organization, becoming one of their best thieves. Marpenoth 1, 1366 - Cadius' partner, a fellow thief by the name of Fearghus, betrays Cadius while on the job, cracking his skull before fleeing the area. Marpenoth 2, 1366 - The local group of Shadow Thieves under the control of Billy 'Parsnip' are quickly broken apart. Cadius is sent to regain his respect by killing Fearghus. After departing, however, he quickly abandons his task, relieved to be out from under their thumb, and begins to wander, north and east. Kythorn 23, 1376 - Cadius arrives in the Moonsea, and quickly decides to stay for a time. House Eldanesh: House Eldanesh is a mystery. While his mother, Alara, bore the name, it's uncertain as to what it's origins are. Cadius has never come across any mention of any family known as Eldanesh, although he doesn't look very hard. It's not an especially great concern for him. Those learned in the Houses or people of the Elves (DC 20 Lore) might come to the realization that there is no noble Elven house by the name of Eldanesh, and those particularly so (DC 35 Lore) to realize that if a Common Family known as Eldanesh exists, it is so obscure that it must be hiding somewhere in the Underdark to be this unmentionable. Anyone with knowledge of Elven should realize that the name is completely meaningless after even cursory examination. In truth, House Eldanesh does not exist, and whatever his mother's surname really was, Eldanesh was not it. Category:PC